The whole armour of God

The text of my address is from Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians:

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. …

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” (Eph. 6:11–18.)

           In a seminary video I watched in High School these scriptures became a reality. It shows 5 or 6 wen in war that decide to take a break. There isn't any enemy around (or so they thought) so just for one short couple three minutes they take off their armour. Its heavy, its hot, they will be just fine if they take it off for just a minute. Well in that minute, the enemy was in the tree's hiding and the second they take off their armour, the enemy attacks. A few of the soldiers were killed, but one stood strong. He watched his fellow soldiers taking off their armour and he stood strong and left his on. He was not harmed by the enemy that took the lives of his fellow soldiers.

          In our lives, how many times do we "take a brake" from our armour. We let our guard down for just a few minutes and in that very moment Satan attacks. In this same video it shows a young group of friends strong and firm in the gospel. They are all invited to a party and all decide it won't be a good party for them to go to, except for one friend. He says "oh come on how bad could it be? I'll just go for a minute." He let his guard down and took of his armour for just a moment. He took a drink of alcohol that night and his life went down hill from there. Read Eph. 6:11–18 one more time and think of the ways you can put and keep on your armour of righteousness. It is my prayer that we will not let our guard down for even a second. When we do the enemy will attack. Be prepared with your armour and when the enemy comes, you will protect yourself with truth and righteousness.
                 

I love baseball, it is one my favorite things in this world. As I was contemplating, how does baseball relate to the gospel, I had a perfect idea. For those of you who know baseball, the third base coach gives signs to his hitters and base runners. These signs consist of many different patterns. They all mean something different. The coach is telling his players what they need to do to execute a certain play. If executed correctly it can often lead to winning a game. The coach doesn't do anything for them, he tells them what to do and they are the one's to take care of the rest. How often does our Heavenly Father tell us what we can do to return to him and has us execute the plan ourselves. How often in baseball does a coach give a sign and the players don't execute it? It happens quite often. How often does our Heavenly Father give us a perfect sing or plan and we don't execute it? It happens even more often. That is why we practice and practice and practice. None of us will ever execute our Fathers plan perfectly but we try, and try, and try again. Our Father in Heaven wants us to return to him and love him more than anything else, because of the love he has for us. It is our job, to do our best, to understand what that plan or sign is from our Heavenly Father and execute it the way he would have us execute it. I know God lives and answers our prayers. Focus on what he is trying to say to you and don't question it, just do it.



Come, come, ye saints!!!!

Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear;
But with joy wend your way.

As I sit back and think about the faith, desire, and devotion of the saints, I sit in awe. How much they went through, how much they accomplished, and how little the complaint. This song is a perfect reminder of how the saints showed self-less actions, extreme amount of faith, to do what they were asked.

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?
’Tis not so; all is right.

Here are people that are going through as much trial and heart ache as you can almost imagine, but their answer is 'Tis no so: all is right. Saints are getting terribly ill even passing away and all is right. What faith and great courage we can learn from the early Saints and Pioneers. How often in our lives do we mourn or think our lot is hard? But in most cases were saying, yes it is hard why am I going through this, or something of the sort. There is a great lesson to be learned from the saints.

Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;

There isn't anything more I can say to these courageous lines.

 And should we die before our journey’s through,
Happy day! All is well!
Brothers and Sisters, are we living our lives where we can say this to ourselves? If we die right now, before our journey's through, will it be a happy day? will all be well? It is my hope and prayer that we can say this with confidence. It is also my testimony that we can learn so much more from the early Saints and Pioneers. They were such a courageous people and devote servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. As should we all be. I love you all who took the time to read this. I pray that you will sit back and think as I have of how you can be a better servant of the Lord.